This sermon from Heb 7:26 is about Jesus Christ our High Priest. He is far greater than any other priest.

In the Old Testament the Jews had priests that offered sacrifices for them in the temple.  Among the priests there was a high priest.  Not only did the Jews have priests, but so did the Egyptians, the Midianites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the worshippers of Baal, and so forth.  Many religions have priests such as Buddhists, Shintoists, Hindus, Taoists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Mormons, and so forth.  Priests are very common in religions of the world.  They stand between the people and their gods.

As we see from Heb 7:22-28, Jesus Christ is our high priest.  And if you have Jesus Christ, he is the only priest you need.   All these other priests are men, ordained by men, who are no different than the people they represent.  They literally can do nothing to bring you into a right relationship with God.

Jesus Christ our High Priest is:

The only suitable high priest.  He is “holy”.  And God is holy.  Therefore, God is unapproachable by men.  He “only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen or can see”, 1 Tim 6:16.  We would be destroyed in God’s presence as we are.  Yet, through Jesus Christ our high priest, we can approach the Father, because he is ‘one’ with the Father, 1 Jn 5:7; Jn 10:30.  He is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  

To call a mere man, like a pope “Holy Father” is blasphemous.  Jesus Christ is the only holy priest in the entire world.

The only substitutionary high priest.  “Such an high priest became us”.  Jesus Christ became a man so that he could die in our place.  He didn’t kill a lamb; he offered himself.  He died for us so that he could save us.  We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  As pastors we are instructed to “feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood”, Acts 20:28.  Also, Jesus is “harmless”.  While he was on earth he never hurt anybody and he’s not going to hurt you now if you will come to him by faith.  You can and should trust him to be your high priest more than anybody else on this earth.

The only sinless high priest.  He is “undefiled”.  He was born of a woman, but he was not “in Adam” since God is his Father.  Therefore, he was born sinless.  Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life even though he was tempted in all points like as we are.  And he remains sinless even though he died with our sins in his body, 1 Pet 2:24 and became sin for us, 2 Cor 5:21.  He is the only sinless person who has ever been or will be.  No other high priest can match him.

Mary, as good as she was, was not sinless.  Her offering in Lk 2:24 was a sin offering for herself.  She is not immaculate.  Lev 12:8 says, “And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean”.

We are all sinners, dead in trespasses and sins.  None of us can get to God without a Saviour.  And our Saviour, Jesus Christ, is the only true high priest whose sacrifice cleanses us.  The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from ALL sin, 1 Jn 1:7.

The only supernatural high priest.  He is “separate from sinners”.   We need a person who came from God to represent us to God.  Jesus Christ is the one.  He is our ‘daysman’, Job 9:33.  He is our ‘mediator’, 1 Tim 2:4-6.  With him as our high priest, we can come boldly to the throne of grace, Heb 4:16.

Our adversary the devil is a supernatural being.  He is the accuser of the brethren.  So, we must have a supernatural high priest.  Jesus gives us the weapons of our warfare which are not carnal but mighty through God.  Jesus sees and knows the things we need, beforehand.  He is praying for us right now.  I don’t need a high priest like myself.  We need the priest who can use God’s words to help us.  Jesus more than anyone else can help us because he is the Word of God.

The only supreme high priest.  He is “higher than the heavens”.  He is already in glory.  We don’t need the ‘higher power’ of A.A.  We don’t need Buddha, Mohammed, the ‘Jehovah’ of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormon god, or earthy high priests.   They are either dead or man-made perversions of our true God.  Jesus Christ, ‘ever liveth”.  He is the true God.  He is victorious over all principalities and powers.  He doesn’t return each year to offer sacrifices like the earthly high priests.  When he died on the cross he said, “It is finished.”

Conclusion: And indeed “it is finished”.  If you have never trusted Jesus to be your Savior, trust him today and you, too, will have the only high priest you will ever need in this world.  Likewise, if you know someone who isn’t saved, you should be encouraged to tell him that Jesus Christ our High Priest is all he needs.